Class II. BEE EATER. 339 



GENUS XII. BEE EATER. 



Bill quadrangular, a little incurvated, sharps 



pointed. 

 Nostrils small, placed near the base. 

 Tongue slender. 

 Toes, three forward, one backward : the three 



lower joints of the middle toe closely 



joined to those of the outmost. 



Merops apiaster. M. dorso fer- The Ree eater. Wll. om. 147, Common. 



rugiueo abdomine caudaque Raii Syn. av. 4g. 



viridl-cserulescente, rectrici- Lin. Tr. iii. 333. 



bus duobus longioribus, gu- Le Guepier. Brisson av. iv. 



la lutea. Lath. Ind. orn. 532. Hist. cVois. vi. 480. 



269. id. Syn. ii. 667. id. PL Enl. §38. 

 Sup. \\Q. Grn. Lin.460. 



[THIS beautiful bird was first observed to 

 visit England in 1 794, when a flock of about 

 twenty passed most part of the summer in 

 Norfolk : other specimens have since that time 

 been killed in Suffolk. 



It measures from bill to tail ten inches. The Descrip- 

 bill is black, an inch and three quarters in 

 length ; the irides red ; the forehead of a blu- 

 ish-green color, with green ; above the top of 



7 o 



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